Veterans go separate ways

Picture: JASON SOUTHA guard keeps watch on the steps of the Shrine on Remembrance Day.

Those who have witnessed war disagree on a response to a war with Iraq, reports Murray Mottram.

Take up our quarrel with the foe:
To you from failing hands we throw
the torch; be yours to hold it high.
If ye break faith with us who die
we shall not sleep, though poppies grow
in Flanders fields.

In Flanders Fields, John McCrae

Among the former servicemen at yesterday's Remembrance Day ceremony at the Shrine there were two views about keeping faith with the fallen of the war to end all wars.

World War II veterans Jim Murdoch and Cam Watson, former captains in the merchant marine, said they believed that if the call came to Australians to join a war in Iraq, it would be their duty to take up the quarrel with Saddam Hussein.

Mr Watson, who joined the British merchant marine at 16 and migrated to Australia after the war, said September 11 and the Bali bombing had brought home the message that bullies could not go unchallenged.");document.write("

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"War never resolves anything, but you can't pacify a bully," he said. "Chamberlain tried that with Hitler. Whether it's Hussein or any other bully, you have to stand up to them. Whether our country is directly threatened doesn't matter - it's a worldwide community. If war comes, we have to participate."

Mr Murdoch said he was worried that Australia's home defences were vulnerable, with troops already committed to East Timor and Afghanistan. But he said he supported the Prime Minister's strong stand behind the United States that may require Australians to fight in Iraq.

"If we're not with the Americans, we're in serious trouble if anyone attacks us," he said. "In World War II we were with Britain. Now it's the Americans. You've got to stick with the strength."

Barry Greenwood, who served in the Australian infantry in World War II, knows about the horrors of war. His father was gassed in World War I and spent the last 10 years of his life on oxygen support. Mr Greenwood was not so keen on going all the way with George Bush.

"I'd rather John Howard stick with the United Nations than the United States," he said. "You get rid of one tyrant and you put another one on the throne."

Merv Hallyer, who spent eight months in Vietnam with the 7 RAR battalion as a national serviceman, had even less faith in the Americans. "I don't think we should be involved at all," he said. "I got caught up in the greatest mess-up of the lot. I think it's just a personal vendetta by Bush and his crew with Saddam."

Joyce Loughnan hasn't been to war but knows of the pain felt when soldiers don't come back. Her father's two younger brothers were killed in France in World War I. An uncle survived Changi in World War II.

"I don't really want to see any more wars," she said. "I don't think we should do what the Americans want all the time. We should look after ourselves and get closer to our neighbouring countries."